Sophie Houghton is the owner of Hawley House, a property located on Hawley Beach, approximately 250km north of Hobart, Tasmania. The property houses a vineyard and guesthouse but the majority of the land is conserved as a wildlife sanctuary. Sophie is currently a member of Land for Wildlife, and intends to maintain Hawley House as a wildlife refuge along with her current enterprises.
Hawley House covers approximately 154 hectares and faces Hawley Beach. The property consists of eucalypt woodland, coastal heathland and coastal wetlands. Vegetative species present include eucalypts such as white gums (Eucalyptus viminalis) and peppermint gums (Eucalyptus nicholii).
Wildlife known to inhabit the sanctuary includes wedge-tailed eagles (Aquila audax), Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii), spotted-tailed quolls (Dasyurus maculatus), eastern quolls (Dasyurus viverrinus), red-necked wallabies (Macropus rufogriseus), Tasmanian pademelons (Thylogale billardierii), long-nosed potoroos (Potorous tridactylus), barred bandicoots (Perameles gunnii), southern brown bandicoots (Isoodon obesulus), yellow tailed black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus funerus) and growling grass frogs (Litoria raniformis). The sanctuary also houses a variety of snake species such as lowland copperheads (Austrelaps superbus), tiger snakes (Notechis scutatus) and whitelipped whip snakes (Drysdalia coronoides).
